The Opposition pushed back fiercely against the Centre’s three key bills in the Parliament premises on Thursday. From wearing black clothes to raising strong objections during remarks in Lok Sabha, the Opposition left no stone unturned to convey its criticism of the government moves. In Tamil Nadu, chief minister MK Stalin was seen burning copies of the delimitation bill.
The government introduced three legislations, a Constitution Amendment Bill to modify the women’s quota law, a delimitation bill, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, aimed at implementing 33% reservation for women in Parliament and State Assemblies. This faced strong resistance from major Opposition parties, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP), Trinamool Congress (TMC), and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
The Constitution Amendment Bill was introduced after a division of votes in the House. A total of 251 members supported its introduction, while 185 opposed it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will speak in the Lok Sabha later in the day.
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal told the Lok Sabha that the total number of seats in the House would be increased to 815. He said seats across states would be expanded by around 50%.
Of the proposed 815 seats, 272 will be reserved for women.
Dressed in black
Opposition parties said they were not against women’s reservation but opposed linking it with delimitation.
DMK MPs arrived in the Lok Sabha dressed in black as a mark of protest. Senior leader TR Baalu said, “We favour the 2023 women quota law; but the present bill aims at delimitation.” He added that the party supports reservation for women but not its linkage with redrawing constituencies.
The Congress also framed the bill as a threat to federal principles. Senior leader KC Venugopal called it a “fundamental attack on Indian federal structure” and said that “women’s right is an excuse.”
Opposition leaders alleged that the proposed delimitation exercise, based on the 2011 Census, could alter the political balance ahead of the 2029 general elections.
‘Leaving out Muslims’
Several leaders directly opposed the bill during the debate. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said, “I oppose its introduction… it is a violation of federalism.”
Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the government was “deliberately leaving out Muslims,” prompting a sharp response from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who said, “No reservation on the basis of religion,” adding that such provisions would be unconstitutional.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanded a complete rollback, saying the government must “withdraw all 3 bills.”
Boycott calls
The Congress announced that the Opposition would boycott the election of the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman as a mark of protest.
Tamil Nadu CM burns bill
Earlier, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin burnt a copy of the delimitation bill in protest and called it a “conspiracy and a black law.”
In a statement, he said, “May the resistance spread across Tamil Nadu. May the arrogance of the fascist BJP collapse… I have ignited another fire by burning a copy of the black law that turns Tamils into refugees in their own land.” He also called for black flag protests across the state.
Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said the Union government was “trying to reduce the representation from Tamil Nadu” through the proposed exercise.
Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “We have decided to oppose this bill but we are not against women’s reservation. We are against the delimitation provisions in the bill.”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav described the move as a “conspiracy”. TMC leader Derek O’Brien called it a “devious agenda”, while Congress general secretary Venugopal accused the government of trying to “bulldoze a deeply flawed, unconstitutional and anti-federal delimitation exercise.”
The proposed framework includes expanding the Lok Sabha from 543 to 850 seats and reserving one-third of them for women. It also seeks to end the freeze on seat redistribution in place since 1976.
